Muhammad said: “Nine people were killed. The suspects are in police custody. My men are there. They visited the community yesterday morning to assess the situation.”

Eyewitnesses said there was a supremacy battle among members of Islanders, Dewell and Degbam groups.

A victim’s brother, Anthony Davies, said his brother was shot while trying to escape.

“My brother is not a cult member, when we heard gunshots that morning, he was frightened. One of the killers called him by name the next thing I heard was the sound of a gun, he bled for 30minuts before he died.”

A community leader, Francis Woke, said the cult groups resumed their hostility after a cult member was murdered.